“These grants will support a wide range of projects that organizations and individuals are working on to improve health care in terms of quality, cost and access,” said Audrey Harvey, vice president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. “We look forward to seeing how their work impacts the community and inspires other organizations to replicate their efforts.”

The grants offered by the Blue Cross Foundation are categorized to allow for a variety of applicants and ideas, including:

Community Health Matching Programs: Community-based nonprofit organizations in Michigan will use these grants to develop, test or validate new techniques and programs to address the needs of its community members and produce a tangible effect in their lives.

Physician Investigator Research Award Programs: Michigan physicians will use these grants to conduct pilot projects and/or small research studies to address unmet health needs to improve the delivery and quality of patient care.

Investigator Initiated Research Award Programs: This program provides researchers employed by universities and hospitals up to $75,000 in grants. The expectation is that that the funding will support getting the researcher’s work published to share among other Michigan researchers and medical professionals to improve the cost and quality of care for Michigan residents.

The BCBSM Foundation gives nearly $2 million each year in grants to research quality, cost and access to health care. The funding spans the state, from the Metro Detroit area to the communities of the Upper Peninsula. None of the money comes from the premium payments of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan members. The BCBSM Foundation was created in 1980 with $800,000 in seed money, which has since grown to approximately $60 million in assets with no further contributions.

An overview of the recipients of the BCBSM Foundation grants is below:

Taking Action on Opioid and Prescription Drug Abuse in Michigan by Supporting Community Responses Initiative Total funding: $570,400

$70,000

Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities Oakland County

Increasing Resources to Reduce Overdoses/Overdose Deaths in Oakland County Through Distribution of Narcan, Programming and Prescription Drug Disposal Opportunities

$65,000

SAFE in Northern Michigan Antrim, Charlevoix and Emmet Counties

Decrease Opioid and Prescription Drug Abuse Among Youth Through Collaboration, Education, Prevention and Social Environment Changes

$75,000

Families Against Narcotics Macomb County

Provide Support for Those with Opioid Addiction to Connect to Treatment and Provide Training in Administrating Naloxone, Using Evidence-Based ANGEL Initiative

UP North Prevention Physician and Community Partnership Seven Upper Peninsula Counties

The Collaboration of Four Substance Abuse Coalitions to Address the Opioid Epidemic through a Variety of Evidence-Based Programs Including Sustained Provider Prescribing Behavior, reducing per Capita Opioid Prescribing and Increasing Pharmacy Take-Back Sites

Identifying Patients at Increased Risk of Hereditary Cancer Using InheRET

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSM provides and administers health benefits to more than 4.6 million members residing in Michigan in addition to employees of Michigan-headquartered companies who reside outside the state. For more company information, visit bcbsm.com and MIBluesPerspectives.com.